AFAIK, Apple's policy is to apply the same carrier lock to a replacement phone as the original phone used to have. So if you have an unlocked phone that needs to be replaced, they should replace it with an unlocked one as well.

Now, it doesn't hurt to remind whoever your are dealing with at Apple of the unlocked status of your phone to make sure that the replacement is unlocked before you leave the counter, especially if it was unlocked some time after purchase.

Although Apple does do repairs/replacements by mail, I strongly recommend going to the closest Apple store and doing it at the Genius Bar. If whoever handles your mail-in request is careless or makes a mistake and sends you locked one instead, it will be difficult to prove otherwise, especially if you no longer have the original phone.

Technically, when a Genius pulls the info for the original phone via SN or IMEI, they get carrier settings on their screen, so they should simply apply the same settings to the IMEI of the replacement phone. However, IMO it is better to verify on the spot.

Actually they don't.

They honor the original sale, e.g. an AT&T locked phone which was subsequently unlocked by AT&T will be replaced by a AT&T locked phone.

You can unlock it again via AT&T.

I had it hapen to me with my IP4, cracked screen, paid $150 for a replacement, i told them in advance that i needed an unlocked phone as replacement, they told me no problem, but after all it was a locked phone which can only be unlocked through AT&T.

With the great help of the apple store, the fact i told them in advance i needed an unlocked phone and proof of unlock by AT&T, i ended up with a brand new factory unlocked 4s!!

They honor the original sale, e.g. an AT&T locked phone which was subsequently unlocked by AT&T will be replaced by a AT&T locked phone.

You can unlock it again via AT&T.

I had it hapen to me with my IP4, cracked screen, paid $150 for a replacement, i told them in advance that i needed an unlocked phone as replacement, they told me no problem, but after all it was a locked phone which can only be unlocked through AT&T.

With the great help of the apple store, the fact i told them in advance i needed an unlocked phone and proof of unlock by AT&T, i ended up with a brand new factory unlocked 4s!!

Apparently the policy is inconsistent, or possibly the genius didn't code the phone correctly during the replacement, because I just had my iPhone 4S replaced with a factory unlocked one. My original iPhone was brought through AT&T locked and I used one of the eBay services to get it unlocked. I had an issue with the speaker and Apple replaced it. The replacement phone was unlocked, although it was not immediate because it wouldn't activate with my T-Mobile sim card in the Apple Store but did eventually give me signal and service with my T-Mobile sim card.

I just wanted to add that the TheUnlockClub (ebay link) is legit and works! Their latest price is $13.92 for the 1-24hour service, so I'd figured the worst that can happen is that I'd be $13.92 poorer if it was a scam.

But I placed my order last night and they responded within minutes, and today after doing the whole process (restoring+updating to 5.1.1) I'm a happy owner of an unlocked 4S I tested using a friend's T-Mobile micro-sim and it took a minute or two to find signal and activate, then the T-Mobile name came up. I placed a call to be sure and yup, it works.

Apparently the policy is inconsistent, or possibly the genius didn't code the phone correctly during the replacement, because I just had my iPhone 4S replaced with a factory unlocked one. My original iPhone was brought through AT&T locked and I used one of the eBay services to get it unlocked. I had an issue with the speaker and Apple replaced it. The replacement phone was unlocked, although it was not immediate because it wouldn't activate with my T-Mobile sim card in the Apple Store but did eventually give me signal and service with my T-Mobile sim card.

They spent 2 hours, 3 genius and a store manager, contact with AT&T and 2 IP4 on it before they gave me the 4S.

One of the things that might complicate things is that they don't have any 32gig IP4 new anymore, 4S's new are plenty.

Well, after the recommendations I decided to give TheUnlockClub a try yesterday. The price has dropped to $13.83 so I figured it was worth a shot. I submitted my info and last night about 8 hours after submitting info I received a email saying the unlock had been successful. Immediately I hooked up to iTunes and did a restore and got the now familiar "congratulations, your iPhone has been unlocked" screen. I was able to pop in a tmobile sim and it worked fine, so well worth my $13.83! I forgot to mention this was on a AT&T iPhone 4s.

I just got it done for $13.92. I don't even need the unlock but I figured at this price, why not? I want it before Apple/AT&T decide to close this like before. Btw, I want to toot my own horn and say I called it that the price would drop rapidly, see here:

So I received my notification of a successful unlock along with instructions on finalizing through iTunes (restore, etc.). What I was wondering is if there is a way to finalize the unlock process without having to re-jailbreak my phone?

I remembered seeing this post a while back and was wondering if this process would still work?

I've been monitoring this thread for over a week now and I haven't seen my question answered. I'm assuming you're referring to your post on Aug 16, 2012, 11:31 AM which was a follow on to LandonDonovan's post about the SAM process. According to that post the SAM Cydia app is used to deactivate the iPhone, but then what? My take on that is that it's a work-around that was not intended to be used this way. Furthermore, I don't plan on activating another SIM card right away (I plan on taking an international trip later in the year and I wanted to make sure my phone was unlocked prior).

My question was about the redsn0w method explained in the link I provided. Has anyone had any experience with this method? If not, or if the SAM method is truly the suggested method, could you provide a little more information as to what I'd need to do after deactivating the iPhone? Would I then plug it into iTunes and receive the unlocked message that other posts have mentioned?

Sam method works perfect I did it you simply deactivate your sim and then reactivate it all in sam. since I used Absinthe was the best option I figured and the quickest took me 30 seconds to use. far as Redsn0w never personlly used it so maybe somebody else will pip in on that,

Sam method works perfect I did it you simply deactivate your sim and then reactivate it all in sam. since I used Absinthe was the best option I figured and the quickest took me 30 seconds to use. far as Redsn0w never personlly used it so maybe somebody else will pip in on that,

The eBay one definitely worked and it's very cheap. But now the only problem I have is with MMS the cam icon is there but it won't send not receive pics, anyone can help me or redirect me the thread for that. I'm new here, thanks.

The eBay one definitely worked and it's very cheap. But now the only problem I have is with MMS the cam icon is there but it won't send not receive pics, anyone can help me or redirect me the thread for that. I'm new here, thanks.

Which one did you use? I used TheUnlockClub earlier this week and have not had a single issue.

Guys,
After yesterday's keynote, I am deciding to get the new iPhone. I have a 32GB black iPhone 4G and yesterday I received a letter from AT&T that I can just backup and restore my phone to get factory unlock.

I connected my phone to Itunes (Although it was checked mark for backup in icloud) I backed up my phone. I saw all the apps getting transfered just like a normal backing up.

I then updated my software from 5.0.1 (yes been using with ultrasnow) to 5.1.1, once the update was over. I went to itunes to restore from backup but I cant find the last backup in the drop down. Although when I went to preferences and idevice, I see the backup listed in their. I just don't know how to manually backup myself. My iCloud was full back in June so the WiFi backup was never updated.

Is there a way, I can update from the itunes as it shown on the preferences as the last update as yesterday? also how would i know that the phone is now factory unlock?